


If You Didn't See Me (Then You Weren't On The Dancefloor)

by Poppyseed



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: (depends on where you live), M/M, Underage I guess, feels are a little ambiguous, hehe, not winning any prizes for the smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-25
Updated: 2014-09-25
Packaged: 2018-02-18 17:55:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2356973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poppyseed/pseuds/Poppyseed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall wakes up and is 17, everyone else is the same age</p>
            </blockquote>





	If You Didn't See Me (Then You Weren't On The Dancefloor)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aestheticzjm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aestheticzjm/gifts).



> This idea originated from another work posted here recently by the lovely heather_xo who was nice enough to let me mess around with it. So go read it, it's really fun. Thanks to Lesley, my one normal friend and yeah hope you like this thing.
> 
> Title by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

Maybe it was those Jäger Bombs, those Anacondas (just because) but Niall really had no business attempting the Daiquiris. The name should have been all the indication he needed to stay away. So when he wakes up with significantly less body hair than he remembers having it’s alarming to say the very least. He gets his bearings and assumes this must be some sort of prank. Which unsurprisingly segues him to his next thought ‘where’s Louis’. 

He works through chopping the morning wood right there on his rumpled sheets but something doesn’t sit quite right. Niall smears the ejection on the crisp white hotel comforter without thinking twice about the yellowish stain which will remain. That seems even strange to him because he doesn’t remember doing something that characteristically lazy and repellent in a while. But he just, did it.

There’s a distinctive weight in his mouth when he licks the morning dryness and bitter spirit residue off his lips. The familiarity frightens him more than anything else. If this was some prank then Louis outdid himself tremendously. There’s absolutely no way Niall was so wrecked he wouldn’t have noticed somebody screwing his braces back on. The thought that he was maybe roofied flits by but he quickly quashes it with a shake of his head. Fuck Black Cards and strippers, but it was only the 5 of them at the end of the night. He remembers that much. 

Turning 21 would’ve been a much bigger deal personally if he hadn’t been drinking for years already.

Niall gets up in search of everyone else and tears through the hotel suite. He’s yelling names, but compounding the weirdness of the morning even the pitch of his voice sounds skewed. He has to suddenly stop at the glass wall that leads into the common living area because he sees his reflection looking back at him like it’s from worlds away. His heart is beating harder than he can keep up with and his limbs are turning to goo. It does strike him that he might still be asleep or something similar because none of it makes sense. 

He carefully pads towards the wall, his fingertips touch the cool plane of the glass and like a reflex he scratches the surface trying to scrape the reflection away. His other hand goes to his hair and he pulls at the strands until it hurts. 

In the midst of trying to rein in his twisted out of body experience he doesn’t notice Harry slowly getting up on the other side of the wall from where he was passed out on the carpet. Niall stretches the skin on his face in a number of different directions, pinching and prodding until it turns red and irritated. “Ni, I think my liver fell out last night,” Harry on the other sounds so gruff and gravelly he has to clear his throat multiple times 

“Ni...Ni? NI!” Niall can barely register that he’s on the opposite side of the wall until all the light from the windows gets blocked out by Harry's silhouette. Harry truly looks lost for words.

“What the fuck is going on?” Harry doesn’t give an answer but rounds the partition separating the two of them and slows down when he reaches the end of the short corridor. He approaches Niall like he’s afraid if he gets too near he’ll scare him off. Niall panics a little from the way Harry looks at him. 

He doesn’t do much and doesn’t say anything when his face unexpectedly breaks into a smile so wide it looks hard to sustain for very long. Harry gets his hand round Niall’s wrist and with speed he has never witnessed before leads him into the bathroom. Niall struggles to keep up while he chases his pace.

 

“Are we seeing the same thing right now?” Harry voices from behind Niall as they stand in front of the mirror of the main bathroom.

“Are we? ‘Cause I dunno what I’m seeing,” he says around inspecting the braces in his mouth. Just as grating as he remembers them. 

“You look 12”

“Do not” 

Harry pats his head lightly “Well how did this happen anyway?” finally showing some concern and a little intrigue as opposed to amusement.

“I have no clue. I just woke up and found this had happened,” he motions over himself and just then notices his new fun size hands. 

“Ok come on, we have to tell everyone ‘cause I don’t think I’ll be much help on this one.” This time Niall takes Harry’s hand a little more willingly.

 

They find Zayn and Louis in Zayn’s room. Louis is inexplicably curled at the foot of the bed and Zayn is under the covers, both deep asleep. Harry presses his foot onto Louis’ back to wake him up without giving Niall much time to mentally prepare himself that two more people are about to see him in his state.

Louis stirs in his sleep and adjusts himself accordingly but it doesn’t really rouse him. Harry pushes him again, harder, and he mumbles a “fuck off” dismissively.

“Lou, get up,” Harry’s eyes dart to Zayn for a split second before settling back on Louis like he has something up his sleeve. And Niall recognizes that face anywhere. 

He does get up with some effort and he then proceeds to rub at his eyes numerous times to clear the fog and apparently what he sees in front of him. 

“What did you do to Niall?” he asks face completely serious. 

Harry gets the kind of excited that makes him bristle, he rolls on his heels, “nothing, he was like this when he woke up.”

Niall smiles with a tinge of nervousness especially when Louis stands up. When he gets closer he realizes Louis is a couple of inches taller than him and that throws him off even more than the way he’s pinching his cheek. 

“What happened to you?” Louis asks with a smile on the verge of cracking. Niall fails to see the enjoyment everyone seems to be getting out of this. 

He looks over at Harry for an answer but he has the same look on his face as Louis. “I don’t know I woke up and I looked like this.”

“Zayn wake up,” Louis shakes him pretty hard. Zayn replies with a well-timed and appropriate middle finger. “Get up you lazy bastard, you gotta see this.”

Louis looks back at him not even trying to contain his enthusiasm this time. Niall feels a little scared.

“I don’t wanna see you drink through your nose again Louis” he says voice still sleep addled. 

“No it’s not that, it’s better.” Zayn turns over in bed after what seems like an overly dramatic pause and opens his eyes. Niall holds his breath.

He frowns. Niall is sandwiched between Harry and Louis and he guesses the proportions must look wonky because Zayn gets up on his elbows.  
His eyes grow wider. 

“See I told you it was better.”

“What’s going on?” Zayn asks looking at all three of them.

Harry swings their hands between them and says, “Well we got smashed last night and Niall woke up and now he’s a tween.”

“He looks more teen than tween,” Louis adds twiddling his fingers.

“Point is, he’s a child and stuff,” Harry elaborates.

This conversation could bring Niall to tears if he decides that this would be the best time to break down. And Zayn hasn't done much else than give that impassive stare. 

Liam enters the room pulling out the earphones he had on. Nobody says anything as they wait for him to complete playing the 'odd one out' game without any assistance.

There's a blush creeping up Niall's neck when Liam successfully finishes because he hones in on him. Louis and Harry automatically start cracking up.

-

It's a little later when they've convened a band meeting in the living room and trying to take all of it in that Niall's anxiety starts to set in.

“How permanent is this thing?” Louis finally asks after what seemed like an hour of empty talk and ribbing.

They all look to him, “How would I know? You ever heard of this happening to someone before?”

It's silent afterwards. Liam puts his arm round his shoulder and it feels much weightier than he remembers. “You'll be fine. Right guys?” They all give some variation of 'yeah' and although Niall's not looking at any of them he knows Liam's giving them 'that look' they had better say the right thing.

Niall wrings his hands together and hopes more than anything that he's right.

 

They tell Paul, well he sees it/him, and Niall finds it odd that once it’s absorbed, he starts chuckling. But it is obviously a cause for concern and Niall gets out of the room itching to call his mother.

He explains to her as best as he can over the phone, he even takes a picture and sends it. She calls back as soon as the picture gets delivered and she shrieks. Niall has to pull the phone away from his ear first. 

“As long as you're safe. Please get home soon. Need to see you”, Niall for the first time doesn’t actually know how to take what his mother says. He doesn’t doubt she means what she says in any way but since he took a turn down Circus Freak Boulevard things have been tinted in strangeness. They say their goodbyes and the twinge in his knee turns into a throb.

-

It's a day later and arrangements are quickly made to get them out of the country when there’s a little snag in the plan. Which Louis so kindly points out, “Niall’s short. It’ll look weird.”

“Weird how?” Harry asks while rummaging through his luggage. He’s doing a mostly shitty job trying to find Niall something that actually fits after they found out just about all his clothes hang the wrong way. 

Louis sets himself next to Niall on the sofa and goes to explain, “like compared to us, won’t it look weird, walking in a line, at the airport?”

Harry pulls out a purple beanie and tugs it over Niall’s head. “Yeah probably, but then what?”

Niall gripes heavily under his breath, to himself, “I’m right here.” He wonders if this situation maintains this is the way conversations will be had, that concern him. Without his input. He’s gotten used to people making decisions for him and micromanaging to the last detail, but those people did not generally include idiots the likes of Louis and Harry.

“Think he might have to go alone,” Louis tilts his head towards Niall but doesn’t break eye contact with Harry. Who then gets seated on the coffee table, “where’s Liam?”

“With Zee I think, not sure though.” Harry then starts shouting Liam’s name and he runs out to the hallway like there’s a fire. 

“What?!” he's heaving his breaths and Harry looks so achieved. 

“Niall might not be able to go back home with us,”

Liam shuffles closer and says, “Why though?” He looks irritated more than anything.

“He's short and it'll look weird” 

He makes a valid point when he mentions, “Wait so he’ll magically look taller if he’s alone?”

Louis rolls his eyes with everything he’s got, “no but you ever notice the way you meet someone famous sometimes and they’re kind of taller, shorter, whatever, than you thought?” He pauses to ensure his being understood, “kind of like that.” 

Liam's quiet for a second considering what he’s just been told before he swats Harry off the table. “You okay with that Niall?” He looks up at the two of them, Niall now realizes he must have caught wind of what was and has been happening, “You don't have to do it if you don't want to.”

“I’m fine Liam. It’s not a big deal,” he really means it too but the way Liam’s looking back at him makes Niall even doubt himself. 

“Are you sure?” the eyebrows. Those eyebrows should be illegal. 

Voice small as anything, “yeah I’m sure.”

 

So they leave that very night Niall gives them each a hug, even if Liam’s lasts a little too long and feels a little too tight, Harry lifts him off the ground and Louis smirks through the entire thing. Zayn gives him a quick one and kind of adopts a no-frills tactic. Niall waves and gives a lop sided smile as he watches the elevator doors close.

His 21st birthday ended with him turning 17. He sits around for a bit thinking he should be put in a record book or someone should make a movie about him or something lord knows he would watch it. He goes through half the mini bar that last night alone in the hotel room, secretly hoping a repeat performance will ultimately reverse the juju , answers Liam and Louis’ texts from the airport and he passes out on the chaise at 2 o’clock in the morning. More than ready to say goodbye to the stifling desert air.

When he wakes up the next morning he switches off his phone without checking on his notifications. It’s also closer to afternoon than morning if he’s bothered enough about it but he doesn’t really care too much. He does a bang up job of dragging the 4 hours it takes him to pack up his things and he gets hauled off when it’s almost dark outside. 

The scene at the airport isn’t too bad, he figures it must’ve been worse the day before when the boys departed. Security is more suffocating than usual but he supposes he should be thankful. Airports seem to be his weak point. When he finally reaches the seat he works very hard to make sure he isn’t hassled. He plugs in his iPod and pulls down his hoodie, which falls over his eyes at this point and tries very hard to fall asleep. 

-

Harry's more chipper than usual when he meets them at his place. He spreads his arms wide, backhanding Liam in the process and squeezes him so hard apparently aiming to wring all the air out of his lungs like a sponge. 

He even sniffs his hair a little bit which catches Niall off guard, he flinches. Harry looks constantly enthused due to these recent advancements so he doesn’t notice a thing. 

When they’re settled in Harry’s living room Louis sits down and smiles at him. He also does not stop looking at him. He bops him on the nose once and goes back to staring.

“I completely forgot how adorable you were.”

“Leeeyum, Louis is staring at me.” Niall shouts.

“Louis stop staring at Niall.” He says while walking in from the kitchen.

Zayn looks away from whatever is playing on the TV and quickly goes back to whatever he was doing like that scowl was all in Niall’s head. He’s been more quiet than usual and Niall finds it hard not to take offence because he knows it’s since he turned into whatever he is that he’s acting out. It becomes hard to approach that situation seeing as there’s no way round it. He is what he is, for now. So Niall won’t bother. He can take Harry treating him like a doll, Liam morphing into his father before his very eyes and Louis being Louis around him because at least they are around him. 

Zayn huffs out answers and looks from the corner of his eyes Niall already feels like he has quite a bit on his plate so indulging Zayn can stay at the back of the line. 

“Wanna play peek-a-boo instead?” Louis offers and then proceeds to do just that. Harry snickers like it’s the funniest thing he’s heard all year and sulks when he accidently tweets gibberish as a result. Liam does mention that it’ll still probably have like ‘a hundred million’ retweets and the like still.

When he quits fooling around he asks, “Does it feel weird?”

Niall blanks, he doesn’t know exactly how waking up younger than he was is supposed to feel on the weirdness scale. He doesn’t feel any more energized or rejuvenated than he usually is. His body is just different, that’s about it. “Weird how?”

Louis wets his lip and it’s clear he was hankering to ask his questions. “Like your body doesn’t fit or something?” The whole room goes quiet when he starts talking.

“Not really. I just look like this.” He shrugs.

Louis scoots closer and puts his arm round his shoulder but Niall attempts to edge away, “is your um…is everything smaller?”

Liam’s “Lou what the fuck?” is immediate. He tries to push him off but the hold Louis has on him is solid. 

“What? I’m kinda curious,” he tests in nothing but honesty. 

As expected Harry’s the only one who’s as absorbed in the matter as Louis is and it’s becomes even more evident when he perches on the opposite side of the couch. He jabs Niall in his side with his index finger and looks like he could break into applause when Niall recoils. “He’s ticklish again.” Niall’s mostly surprised how Harry seems to have the sharpest memory when it comes to the most tedious things.

“Guys maybe you should ease up,” this remarkably comes from Zayn who despite obviously offering his view is still facing the TV.

“OK can we just agree there will be no asking Niall questions he’s uncomfortable answering, no unnecessary roughness and no sneak attacks Harry.” Liam lists down his party fouls and Louis groans.

“Exactly what does ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘unnecessary’ entail?”

“And I will not be taking any questions. Niall we good?” Liam sticks both his thumbs up.

Niall nods feeling a little put out. He appreciates Liam’s resolve in making sure he’s as comfortable as possible but maybe the ‘normaler’ they act around him, the ‘normaler’ it would be. Although by no means does Niall want this to be a normal thing.

“You two have been a real drag since Niall Benjamin Button’d,” Louis says, implying Liam and Zayn, who waves his hand at him.

Liam finds it in himself to smile at Louis’ reference, which isn’t that hard really. But still pushes him down when Louis notices it worked.

 

Niall decides to stay at Harry’s place for the time being while they work things out. It's easier that way anyway and he'd appreciate the company. It's also been a bit since he actively lived with any of them. His mother's on phone with him every day though asking for more pictures. Harry's more than willing to help with that, he even suggested he take one in an old Christmas sweater of his. Niall's not going to ruin his fun if he wants to play dress up. 

They have to attend a million and one meetings held by management that all eventually blend into one giant murky thing. All with the same outcome. They can't really move forward with anything while Niall is still the way he is. Nobody’s happy but they don’t say that out loud. They pat him on the back, on the shoulder and move onto other things.

Liam's there when he goes to the doctor. He’s a nice enough man. Glasses and what not. He had been briefed about what happened and he looks at Niall with the same fascination as everyone else, a little too long. The only problem being that he gets to poke and probe and Niall would pout if he had it in him. He already feels like something so personal has been taken from him and then now this and those hospital gowns with backs hanging open. 

He’s been skittish since he turned which has thrown a spanner in the works living with Harry who can’t seem to keep from touching him. 

They run a bunch of tests he’ll never learn the names to; Liam being present for all of them. There seems to be nothing physically wrong with him. Niall’s fine with that, he can take that. Even though there seems to be no explanation for his condition.

The drive home turns out to be more awkward than he had anticipated. Liam out of most of them had been taking things in stride. It kind of wants to make Niall stop the van when he asks out of the blue, “does everything function the way it’s supposed to?”

“Huh?”

“Like your functions, are they properly er..functioning?” he asks managing to cough and look outside the window.

“What are you even asking?”

He’s red as a fire truck and drops the subject saying, “Never mind.”

The rest of the trip proceeds in silence and Niall actually prefers it that way. He gets dropped off at Harry’s and Liam mumbles an apology but Niall waves him off and shuts the door. 

When he gets inside the house Harry’s not there and he stands in the doorway to the guest room for a second trying to gain what he feels is his footing. But he just stands there for almost ten minutes. 

-

Life with Harry. He’s going to write a book one day, he really will. This is nothing like before. He’s making a real effort and Niall can see that he’s doing his best. He doesn’t have his friends over without Niall’s assent, although Niall finds it unnecessary and tempers the physical stuff when he can. 

Niall comes downstairs one morning and finds their shoes all lined up right next to the door compares the sizes in his head. He picks up one of Harry’s shoes and tries to put it on. His foot gets swallowed by it and he quickly puts it back. 

He’s avoided going through Harry’s stuff or borrowing anything. He doesn’t usually push it with the diva stuff and actually enjoys doing things for himself but he sees the point of having a personal shopper with things the way they are. She’s a cool girl, can’t seem to ever remember her name for the life of him, buys too many sweatshirts for Niall’s liking but she’s ok otherwise. He still has some of his old stuff that he didn’t give away to Goodwill because it was becoming a bit unmanageable, at his place. 

Harry picks up things for him too sometimes. It’s usually when he’s picking up odds and ends for his over furnished house at flea markets and such and it’s mostly for his personal enjoyment but Niall couldn’t mind too much. And he's also thankful Harry's over his minimalist phase with the draughty corridors and odd shaped seats.

He goes into Harry’s closet when he’s out and pulls down a random jumper. He moves to stand in front of the mirror and puts it on. It’s not as bad as he thought it would be. The neck droops a little and the sleeves only leave the tips of his fingers visible but it’s really not too bad. It’s also incredibly soft so he decides to leave it on.

There’s nothing but a few documentaries and movies Niall has never and will probably never bother to watch in Harry’s collection. He shouldn’t be as surprised as he is, Harry was always more of a music than a movie person. And he’s also been doing his level best to avoid the internet at all costs so he isn’t left with too many options with regard to distracting himself.

He falls asleep on the couch trying to wrangle through a Maximo Park album. 

 

“Hey there stranger”

Niall’s about to turn around and ignore him but it’s dark out and he’s still wearing Harry’s sweater. 

“You fell asleep there.” Harry’s smile is a little tight.

“Yeah I did,” he says closing his eyes again. Harry’s touch is light on his hair and he could fall asleep again.

“Ni?”

“Hmm”

There’s a pause, “can you like remember things better now?”

Niall opens his eyes and turns to look at him, “how do you mean?”

Harry picks his words one by one before he says it, “stuff from before.”

“Why?”

He pinches his lip between his thumb and fore finger and looks away, “feels like it was such a long time ago, you know and then seeing you like this,”

Niall doesn’t reply until he’s sure Harry has nothing more to add.

“Don’t you miss it sometimes?”

Niall sits up and reaches for Harry’s hand. “I do.” They sit in the silence for a bit when he says, “I don’t remember things better. But I like where we are now, just wish this hadn’t happened. It’s shit for you guys.”

“It’s not, I mean, like nobody was expecting this to happen but it's not like we hate that it did.”

This is what Harry's meant to say, Niall knows. He's checking all the boxes, but that's just what he's supposed to say not what is. Niall shakes his head, “What if I never turn back, what if I stay 17 forever? It was fun at first but s'not anymore.” And Niall won't cry at the thought. Harry holds him still.

“Oh Niall, even if you don't change back it doesn't matter to us. Everyone else can choke on a dick.” Which sounds wrong coming out Harry's mouth. Niall giggles and the tear falls. He scrubs it away just as fast. “And anyway we can just say it's some disorder or something. Doesn't matter.”

Harry wipes the rest of his tears away and says, “Big baby” holding his face between his hands, “now smile.”

Niall smiles so big it reaches his eyes and Harry says, “that’s better.”

“Can’t believe you thought I remembered things better now. That’s a new one,” Harry let’s go of his face. 

“I really did. But apparently this thing doesn’t come with super powers.”

“That it does not. What did you have in mind anyway ‘cause I don’t see why you’d wanna be reminded of your two-week crush on Liam.”

“Hey I told you never to mention that again.” Harry crosses his arms.

“It was the arms wasn’t it. Must’ve been,” Niall taps his chin in mock thought.

“His arms weren’t that big back then,” Harry says.

“So you’ve been looking at his arms lately then?” He shoves Niall’s shoulder until he lands on his side on the sofa.

“I don’t even know why I’m defending myself when I wasn’t the only one with errant crushes on band mates.”

Niall blushes and says nothing hoping to drop the subject. Harry gets up when he’s ensured he’s won the fight and rushes up the stairs, the epitome of smug. Niall takes the opportunity to reorganize his thoughts because he hadn’t let them wander too far and he’d rather keep them that way.

When Harry comes back down it’s with his iPad in his hand and vaults himself from them back of the couch Niall partially breaking his fall and grumbling when his bum knee takes some of the brunt. Harry says sorry and says, "look at what I found." He brings the screen in front of Niall.

Niall chuckles, “where was this taken again?”

“Bondi beach, I think, look at Louis' hair.”

“‘Least they stopped dressing him like a fruity sailor. ....Look at my hair too!” Harry pinches his arm. 

“I am.” He stops moving but puts a finger in the air, “I got an idea. I wanna get meta on this shit.”

“Meta?” He doesn't say anything but zooms in on Niall in the photo and hands over his iPad. 

“Now hold this next to your face,” he says and takes out his phone.

Niall complies and pulls the same silly face as the picture on the screen. “Ha that's good,” Harry says and takes the photo.

He looks down at it and says, “you haven't aged a day Niall.” Niall replies by hitting him with a throw pillow.

Harry takes the pillow to the face and falls on the hard wood floor. “See, knew I could get you to smile.”

“Hey, I'm not always a downer some would even call me fun loving,” Niall defends himself.

“Yeah I know it's just, you've been a bit off and believe me I get it. It's not every day you wake up younger than you were going to bed but you know you're still Niall. Still an utter idiot, still free of bullshit. Just a younger body.”

Niall considers it for a moment and then says, “Ok.”

Harry rolls onto his side on the floor, leaning on his elbow to hold him up and get a better look at him, “like I know I get weird too sometimes but you haven't had a drink since we left Vegas and that's even more unusual than you being a teenager right now.”

“I know man but I kinda haven't thought about drinking lately.”

“When's the last time you had like proper sex,” he narrows his eyes.

“Does it matter? My body changed, I'm allowed to be weird about stuff like that,” says Niall

“Then that settles it, we have to go out,” Harry even slaps his hand on the ground for good measure. Niall's not really sure if he's ready to face the world again but Harry looks like he'd break his heart if he says no. He gives a shrug and a nervous smile.

“I'll even call the others. Unless you don't want to?”

“I do. It might be good to get out, been going a little stir crazy in here anyway,” he says and half believes it himself.

They sleep in Harry's bed that night Niall clutching to the front of Harry's shirt. Something he hasn't done to anyone in many many years.

-

The boys do come over the next day sometime in the late evening. Harry's always the greatest host Niall's ever seen. He greets them like he hasn't seen them in months although Louis speeds right past him when Harry opens the door. He makes a beeline in Niall's direction and hugs him. 

“Oww you're still real.”

Niall smiles at him and says, “still am.”

“So, back to food fixations and loud farting then?”

Niall accepts Louis challenge gladly this time, “Nah, I'm trying to keep my fart totals low.”

Louis musses his hair and whispers, “don't tell Harry this but you were always my favourite.” 

Niall beams. 

 

Pre-gaming has always been a tricky affair to Niall. How to balance being just a touch buzzed to have the get up and go for the club and staying under the limit of belligerence. Because when he starts, he really starts.

Harry weirdly enough doesn't have a lot of alcohol in the house. Niall notices this but takes it as a good thing. He does however have enough shakers and stirrers and skewers to open up a real bar. Which is baffling to Niall. They might not necessarily need to pregame in any case, but a little high would be nice.

Zayn who seemed to be sticking to his guns approaches him while he struggles to get the jar of cherries at one of the top shelves in the kitchen. Niall is almost completely certain Harry put them there just so that he would go through an ordeal getting at them.

He smells him before he sees him. The cologne is nothing but a teaser, therefore it's not a surprise when another hand gets to the jar before he does. 

Zayn sets it down on the counter and Niall says thanks. 

“So um, how are you holding up?” Zayn asks and Niall doesn't know whether he's asking sincerely or not.

“I'm good. Reaching jars has been a problem though,” he smiles.

Zayn continues, “I would've come to see you earlier but, um, I'm a complete dick sometimes.”

Niall dismisses it, “Not a problem.”

“It's just...”

“It's really not a problem Zee. Look I get, it's weird. I'm like this and that's hard even for me to digest but I'm getting there. So don't beat yourself up about nothing.”

Zayn pulls in him and Niall relishes the moment while it lasts.

 

They go to some upscale place that has business cards and bottle service and whatnot where they know they won't be bothered but is still lively enough for them to work their way round. 

They go through a couple of drinks and in no time Harry's giving him a piggy back ride on the dance floor. They try some sort of hybrid piggy back-jig but they do end up on the floor and Niall's .........hard enough that he doesn't feel the fall. He knows he will tomorrow though. For now he's content with laughing while Harry paws around for him. He finds his face and plants a kiss on his cheek and slurs, “I love you, you asshole,” and goes resumes lying spreadeagle on the floor.

He really needs to find the bathroom a while later and the hot waitresses keep giving him directions he can't remember long enough to follow. Niall wants to go back and find Liam so that he could deal with toilet situation but he feels like he's gotten so far and his bladder is screaming at him.

When he sees the mauve doors with the 'GENTS' sign on it he heaves a sigh of relief. He does the necessary and leans onto the wall for extra support. Someone comes in when he's busying himself washing his hands in the sink.

“Oh hey Zayn. Didn't know you needed to go too. Should've looked for ya,” he thinks out loud. Niall is a little dizzy as it is so it definitely gets him off guard when his attempt at turning and leaving end up with him pressed into the bathroom counter.  
“Zayn, what are you...” but Zayn's so close to him he can see the shadows playing off his collarbones. 

Niall has no other option but to stay silent when he feels Zayn take a deep breath up the column of his neck. Niall's waiting for his heart to beat right out of his chest. He can feel Zayn fidgeting with the hem of his shirt and he's not too sure what is supposed to happen.

With a tight grip at his hips Zayn presses the pads of his thumbs into Niall's lower stomach and lets out a ragged, “fuck,” a puff at his ear. Niall grips onto the edge of the counter because that shouldn't be as hot as it is. The air is sticky between them and the stubble prickly on Niall's neck but it feels just right.

He says another ‘fuck’ louder this time and bangs his fist on the counter, dropping his forehead onto Niall's shoulder. That's all he does for a few seconds before he backs away and Niall's suddenly very cold and very confused because Zayn rushes out of the bathroom punching the door and he hears another ‘fuck’ down the hallway.

He pats at his crotch and wills away the hardness. Going anywhere but back to the table.

\- 

Niall gets the first flight home he can manage the next day.

-

His parents are without a doubt surprised because he did not give any notice about his arrival. His mother opens the door and looks almost petrified before she gets her wits about her.

“Surprise,” he squeaks out. She wraps her arms around him much more tightly than Niall was anticipating and leaves kisses all over his face. Niall scrunches his nose and it's when she says, “look at you. Turn around, I wanna make sure it's really you.”

“Ma it's really me, now can I get inside I'm freezing to death.” 

They enter the house and his mother gives him another hug pushing the hair out of his eyes and generally fussing over him more than he would like. When his father comes down the stairs, there's a heavy moment before he says, “so it's true.”

“Hi Dad.”

He hugs him and this one out of all the ones he's received still feels the same. 

 

Unpacking takes no time at all. He carried one bag and that's about all he's going to need. He digs out his and sits down on the floor his room. There's a bunch of texts and a couple of calls from Harry which he makes a mental note to reply to, one from Liam and Louis and a text from Zayn which he doesn't read.

He texts Harry back and tells him he got home safe and is drinking his milk and taking his vitamins etcetera. Harry being the only one who knows where he is and deserving as much. He switches off his phone after that and climbs on top of his bed. He falls asleep not too long afterwards the strain slowly starting to show.

 

He soon gets acquainted with hour long baths and sitting in front of the TV for hours on end. On his third day home he finds his clothes in neat stacks in his drawers and somebody definitely ironed his socks. When his mother comes home in the evening he tells her she doesn't have to do any of it. She just smiles and says she's happy too.

 

Niall only feels all the more useless because of it. He decides he'll start cleaning up and helping out where he can because it's too weird being a teenager and mooching of his parents again even though it's not for money.

He tells Liam and Louis about his trip. Louis already knows but it doesn't come as some big shock. He carries the phone into the toilet while he texts the both of them and Liam seems genuinely happy that he made a move in the right direction. Louis is less so, he tells Niall that there's so much more to be done in the city and asks why he had to go home.

He texts back that he missed it. Louis replies with a list of things he can do now that he's a kid again. Which included gems such as; u can get into bouncy castles and not get shooed off, u won't look completely stupid on merry-go-rounds. And just because of this conversation he has a Skype session with Louis and Harry later.

The connection's a little sketchy at first so he ends up moving into the kitchen for it to work better. The first thing he says when they pop up on the screen is, “you do know we have all that stuff here, right?”

“Yes, but I won't be there to see it happening which makes it useless to me,” Louis says.

Harry says, “hi Niall,” and gives a little wave.

Louis continues, “I didn't even get to take a picture with you standing next to Liam and laugh at it later.”

“Hi Harry and why are acting as if I've moved away forever Lou I just had to see me folks,” Niall adds.

“But what if you wake up tomorrow and you're back to your old self. That'd be a disaster."

“Thanks a lot Louis, appreciate it.” Niall snickers through it though.

Harry finally shoves Louis off the screen that he had taken up two-thirds of. “Hi, again, how's home?”

“It's fine, a little weird though 'cause my ma’s been waiting on me hand and foot but it's cool.”

“What? You don't miss me? I get why you wouldn't miss Liam and Zayn, especially Louis,” Niall hears a 'hey!' in the background, “because they all suck balls, but thought you'd at least miss me.” Harry pouts and leans his chin into the palm of his hand.

“I do miss you, all of you. And I'm coming back so relax,”

“When?” He blinks.

“Dunno yet but I promise I’m coming back. It hasn't even been a week yet.” Harry looks to the side and there's a noise where the webcam can't reach. He suddenly disappears from the screen and the laptop gets pushed to the side in the process. 

“Guys what the fuck is going on?” He can hear a little of what is going on off screen. There’s a screech but he can’t tell whether it’s from Louis or Harry. “Guys…”

Louis comes into view flushed and too close to the webcam, “Now, we can finally have some peace and quiet.”

“Louis what did you do?”

“Nothing, he just left his phone on the bed and I told him I’d give it to the first person I meet on the street if he didn’t let me talk to you.” Just as he says this he hears a familiar ding from his pocket. It’s an emoji of a sad face from Harry.

Niall chuckles, “that was kind of mean, you know he can’t live without that thing. What would he do for the entire day?” 

“Talk,” Louis grimaces, “to me. You’re right that was a horrible idea. Now tell me what’s been going on with you.”

“Nothing really. I put peanut butter on a hot dog today, wasn’t too bad.” Niall shrugs. Louis just pulls a face at him. Niall weighs whether or not to ask the next question.

“You heard from Zayn?”

Louis looks up for a second in thought, “We talked hmm two days ago. Why?”

“Haven’t heard from him is all,” Niall looks down.

“He’s probably locked himself in a dungeon practicing how to furrow his brow. You know what a moron he is.” 

Niall smiles and looks over the top of the laptop. 

“Somebody’s turning red. What’s going on?” Louis is looking harder than Niall is comfortable with.

“Nothing, nothing. Now go bring back Harry before he gets an abandonment complex,” Niall says.

 

-

Niall is certain he needs to get new friends or find a hobby or something because everything on TV is terrible and he can only masturbate and eat cereal for lunch for so long. Online gaming has proved to be too brutal for his genial tastes and playing scrabble alone is a type of sad he never thought he’d ever feel. He’s arranged his room more times than he can count in the past few days and his mother looks at him pretty hard every time he enters a room and she’s there. 

That actually scares him a touch because none of his parents have talked to him about what happened or what is going to happen. He doesn’t have any clear cut answers for either of those questions but it would still be nice to be asked, he supposes. He also hasn’t contacted any of his old friends. He doesn’t know if he wants to face them right now or it’s already splashed across the tabloids that he’s a freak of nature.

His phone has been off and on for the most part and he still won’t admit to himself that the Zayn situation is eating away at him.

He’s lying on the couch one afternoon when he decides to go to the park or something it doesn’t really matter he just needs to get out. He could even creepily stare back at strangers if they think he looks familiar.

That plan soon gets foiled when he takes one look outside and realizes how hard it’s coming down. He loves his home but this is turning out to be more alone time than he wanted or even needed. He suddenly wonders how Harry is doing. If he was staying back at his place he’d be forced to stay in too and he’d make soup or something else that would take him the entire afternoon to finish and finally they’d both settle on stalking people they knew in primary school on the internet (just to keep things interesting).

He goes into his room and flops onto the bed letting out a huff. His bedroom ceiling is clear for the most part and that irritates him for some reason. He bites his lip and clutches a fistful of hair, the thought coming to him. He quickly gets up and goes poking around his closet. 

There’s a chance it might not be there. The last time he saw it was a long time ago he doesn’t even know why he kept to begin with. He feels around for the paper cylinder he had stored it in. When he finally finds it, for a split second he thinks that it might not be inside but he pulls off the top and it’s still where he left it.

He lays the poster on the floor and spreads it out. It makes him cringe. They really were children when the thing was being made, well except him now. 

He tapes it over his bed with the help of a table and it’s stupid but at least he feels like the day wasn’t a complete waste. 

He rolls over and groans making sure his woody is suffocated in the mattress when he realizes he's been staring at Zayn's face for half an hour that night.

 

His brother comes to visit on the weekend and he begins laughing even before Niall gets his arms round him. 

“Yeah yeah. Enjoy it while you can,” Niall says after giving up on the greeting.

“What actually happened?” his face is still red from his laughing fit.

“I don’t know myself to be perfectly honest?” Niall shakes his head.

“What did the doctors say,” he calms down a bit.

Niall shifts his weight to his good knee, “they said they couldn’t find anything wrong with me. So I dunno what that means but I’m stuck like this until I turn back I guess.”

His brother doesn’t ask any other questions about it for the rest of the evening and Niall’s grateful.

-

He’s going to talk to his mother today. He’s going to muster all the courage he can and ask his mother about what she’s thinking because that seemed like the most tactical approach. 

When she’s running him a bath that he doesn’t need because he already had a standard 2 minute shower, he tells her from the door way, “ma you really need to stop doing all this stuff for me.” 

She turns to face him and says, “Niall I’m doing ‘this stuff’ because I want to.”

“But I can do it myself. This might have happened but I still got all me arms and legs,” he says.

“It’s fine it keeps me busy when I’m home,” she goes back to dealing with the temperature of the water. 

Niall hopes there’s no frustration in his voice, “yeah but laying out my toothpaste for me before I sleep, seems like a bit much, don’t you think?”

She has a soft smile on when she says, “you left this house when you were a child and every time you walk through the front door I see less and less of that child and more of the man you’ve become. And it makes me so proud but for the first time you come back and it’s like the baby of the house has returned. And I didn’t know how much I missed that until it happened.”

Niall couldn’t find the words he wants to answer with even if he tried. He shuts his mouth and gently squeezes her shoulder deciding to turn it into a full embrace.

 

So he won’t complain even when he finds his already organized shirts re-organized according to colour and he even won’t say a word if she wants to slice the edges of his toast. 

 

He hasn’t touched a guitar since the incident, he’s not even sure if he can still play the thing. His father is in the living room when he's fiddling around with it. Some chords go awry and he can hear him laughing behind replying emails or whatever he's doing with his phone.

He lets it out completely and Niall starts laughing too, “I'm sorry but that was really bad.”

Niall agrees and giggles along saying, “I know.”

-

He chats to the three of them over the phone and knows he might have to go back soon enough. Not just because he misses them but for the sake of the band. It's at this time that he decides to open the message from Zayn. He had done a decent job of ignoring it but his curiosity has gotten the best of him.

He excuses himself from the dinner table and goes to sit at top of the stairs. His palms are a little sweaty and he feels like he could drop his phone. 

'I'm sorry i made a mistake'

Niall doesn't know what he was expecting but it certainly wasn't that. He should be glad, and he is, but he's also disappointed and he can't explain why. It's been sitting in his inbox for weeks and it turns out to be nothing but dead air.

Niall immediately rushes to his bed and falls asleep only when he has exhausted all the thoughts he can manage in one night. 

 

He answers the phone a couple of days later without checking on the caller ID. He's deeply engrossed in some COD action and the phone goes off. It rings a few times, he gets killed on the screen and answers it.

“Niall?”

“Zayn?” He puts down the game pad....

“Are you ok?” He sounds slightly panicked. 

“What, I'm fine. Why?” Niall asks.

“You didn't change back or anything?”

“No I didn't,”

“Oh...” 

Niall twirls around the knobs on the pad, “who told you I had?” 

He sighs, “it's not important.” There's some silence. “How are you?”

“I'm good Zayn,” Niall wants to hang up the phone after he replies.

“That's cool. Heard you went home.”

“Yup, been here for 5 weeks now,” Niall says getting ....slightly annoyed.

“Oh alright, I'll leave you to it then,” he finishes. Niall says bye without waiting for an answer.

He blinks at the monitor and replays the conversation in his head. Nothing that has happened for the past few months adds up anyway so he figures Zayn's call shouldn't either. He doesn't have the will to finish playing the round though. He feels strangely deflated. He quits and drags himself into the kitchen.

He can't really cook for shit but he will have his breakfast donuts and he'll cherish every moment. They had put them on a rather strict workout regimen, which was being taken more seriously by some band members than others. He always loved his sweets anyway. That's why he's surprised he hasn't gained any noticeable weight. The baby fat is still very prominent on his face but nothing really worth mentioning. 

Maybe he should try deep fried bread while he can.

-

He gets an email and a call from management, of course he does. It's for one of those meetings to discuss 'strategy' which Niall wants to ignore because they probably want to do another inspection to check if his growth spurt has hit. But he should also go check if house has been overrun by rodents and assure Louis he's still 17.

His home is too cosy and it's been too easy to fall back into old habits. He's still not going to be very happy about having to leave it all behind once again. His mother is even less enthused even when he promises he'll be back sooner rather than later. It probably won't be for a long stretch of time but home is home.

In the end she says it's alright but it makes Niall wonder whether her real fear is that he'll be back and this younger version of him will be gone and when that turned to be a bad thing. 

He goes back with a lot more luggage than he came with, finding renewed interest in things he thought he had left behind. The poster stays tacked to his ceiling though. 

His mother drives him to the airport and he does feel 17 again when they say goodbye. 

-  
His house is just as he left it. Liam comes over when he begs him for the help in cleaning things up. Niall wipes down the surfaces and Liam does everything else. He sees through his ploy when he's cleaning out the fridge. Niall smiles and promises him lunch, Liam just shakes his head. 

“You still worried about your body?” Liam asks when they're taking a break.

“Yeah I guess I am but what am I gonna do about it,” Niall says.

Liam raises his eyebrows and suggests, “growth hormone?”

“What are you crazy? Plus I forgot how much fun this body was.”

“In what ways exactly?”

“Well I can pass through the gaps in those wrought iron gates easily,” Niall explains.

“That's weird not to mention illegal,” says Liam.

“I was bored.”

Liam chuckles.

“You know what the meeting is about?” Niall asks.

“I think it's just a checkup. Might have to wait and see”

Niall then gets curious, “what do you think though?”

He shrugs, “I dunno they didn't really explain anything to me.” Niall nods and drops it. 

They finish cleaning up and Liam leaves. 

-

The boys come over on the weekend and Niall is not looking forward to it. Harry’s the first to arrive and makes sure the food situation is not too sad. 

“I'm not having Oprah over, will you chill out.”

“Yeah but you're not gonna give us a meat platter and lie that it’s a meal,” Harry has brought his own apron over.

“It's meat, it is a meal,” Niall says.

Harry turns his nose up and it's funny, “only you and Liam would think that.”

They set up according to Harry's preferences anyway they even get to use Niall's dining table and Niall doesn't like that he'll have to clean the mess alone later. 

They come over after a while. He pours soda in a wine glass not bothering with whatever Louis and Harry have going on in the ice bucket and asks Liam to cut his food into bits as a joke. Liam distractedly does it while discussing something with Zayn.

The conversation grows a bit stale, like a kid at the adults' table, and Niall soon pulls out his phone. Harry tuts at him and he holds it under the table. 

“I can still see you, you know what go make the coffee,” Harry tells him and he's threaded his fingers together.

“Coffee? What for? I don't even like coffee that much,” Niall does his bit in protesting.

 

“It's not for you, it's for us,”

“But...”

“Don't worry about it, I'll help you,” it's Zayn and Niall is a little more than surprised. Their interactions had been confined to an awkward excuse for a hug and passing glances so far. Niall simply gets up and follows Zayn into the kitchen.

“Where do you keep your..stuff,” Zayn asks once they step into the kitchen.

“Over there, he points at the closest cabinet to him and doesn't really know whether or not there's anything useable inside.

Zayn makes his way their and Niall gets angrier with whatever was simmering between them, “ thought you weren't talking to me.”

He looks a little startled but Niall won't sit on it any longer, “why'd you think that?”

“Because, you harrassed me in a public bathroom and then disappeared,” Niall swears he sees a tiny blush.

Zayn gives a nervous grin and says, “I didn't harass you. It was a mistake, I'm sorry.”

“What? Did you think I was someone else or something when you did that,” Niall asks and although the question is dumb at best he stil hopes the answer is ‘no’.

“No, that's not what I meant Niall. Just drop it,” Zayn turns around and starts opening random cabinets because they seem to be mostly empty.

“No Zayn I'm not gonna drop it. What did you mean then?” Niall upps the ante.

“Nothing Niall, let it go,” Zayn says.

“You know it's not what happened that upsets me, it's that you're acting like it didn't that hurts,” he mutters.

“And what happened Niall?” Zayn turns around and leans on the counter. 

Niall wasn't expecting that kind of reply from him, “I don't know.” He says and lowers his voice.

“Then stop asking questions you don't want the answer to,” Zayn doesn't waver.

\- 

And so Zayn would be last on the list of people Niall was expecting the following morning at his front door. He already has is hands up when Niall opens it. 

“Hi,”

“Hi, what do you want?” Niall says.

“I want to know why you're so mad at me. I already apologized,” says Zayn. 

Niall leaves the front door and walks back into his house, “I'm going to take a shower Zayn. We have that meeting later, you can stay or you can go.”

He goes up the stairs leaving Zayn in the foyer looking a little lost.

Niall mumbles and grumbles through most of his shower. Things such as ‘fuckin' idiot’ and ‘how clueless can you be’. He reaches for the towel outside the shower door but can't quite seem to reach it. He can't blame Harry for this one because he organized his bathroom himself. He stretches his arm out as far as it can go and knows it's not a standard fall as he slips on the wet floor.

Something is definitely wrong by the way his knee twists. Something pops out of place and he lands on the bathroom floor with a thud. It hurts. The pain shoots from his knee outwards and he can't move his leg.

Zayn's at his side and he doesn't know when or how but he's here and his knee hurts. 

“Niall, Ni, what the fuck happened?” He's frantic

“My knee, I think I twisted it,” Niall closes his eyes and clutches his thigh.

“I'm calling the ambulance. Just try not to move,” he's started pushing his wet hair back.

“It hurts Zayn”

“I know I know just please hold on for a second,” he makes the call and doesn't stop soothing him.

 

He goes into the bedroom and comes back out, “Niall, can you hear me? I need you to wear this.”

“I can't,” he grits out as another pang comes over him.

Zayn gets the shorts around his feet and pulls them up his ankles, he goes around him and helps Niall sit up. He sits down behind him and places a hand on Niall's chest. “This going to be hard but I need to pull them up Niall.”

Niall nods and falls back onto Zayn's chest. It's a paralyzing sort of pain he feels when he tries to straighten his leg. Zayn slips the shorts up his legs in one quick move in that tiny window of time. He grips onto his arm and settles back down.

Zayn pulls off his sweater and helps Niall into it. “Good boy,” he kisses his hair and Niall is too tired and in too much pain than to stay where Zayn keeps him, in his arms.

-

The knee brace is back. When they find out his knee had actually gotten worse and that he needs another surgery Harry fumes, “why didn't you say something?”

“Because I didn't know. It had started acting up lately but I didn't know the fucked up knee was part of the deal.”

“What if Zayn hadn't been there?” Niall only now realizes he hasn't seen Zayn since he been wheeled into the hospital. “What if you had fallen down and bumped your head or something?”

Louis is standing in the corner of the room waiting for Harry's tirade to ebb. “I didn't think this would've happened.”

Harry makes Niall look at him, “don't do that again Niall. If you die before me I won't forgive you.” There's a short moment and Niall cracks a smile through the mistiness in his eyes. Harry squeezes him hard. 

“Come here you,” he says to Louis who then joins the clump. 

After they let go of each other Niall asks, “where's Li and Zayn.”

“They're outside. I can call them if you want, “ Louis answers in the middle of sniffling.

Niall nods and Louis leads Harry out the door by his wrist. Liam pokes his head through the crack of the doorway and Niall tell he's smiling just by looking at his eyes. He steps in and says, “you gave us quite a scare.”

“It wasn't that bad Liam,” he says when Zayn enters after him and closes the door. He goes to stand at the foot of the bed. Liam walks up to his side puts his arm round him in a one-armed hug burying his face in Niall's hair.

“It was that serious Ni. Look my hand's still shaking,” he sticks his hand out in front of Niall and it's not shaking. Niall shoves him away and figures what the nurse had put in his IV must be pretty good because he still doesn't feel a thing.

“What did they decide at the meeting?” Niall asks.

“Don't worry about that, we'll talk about it later,” he's smiling so it mustn’t be completely shit news. Liam hugs him again and says, “I'll leave you two alone.” Niall doesn't ask what for though.

Zayn watches Liam leave the room and looks back at Niall. “They're gonna let you go in a day, I called your dad and stuff.”

“Oh thanks,” he's not sure what else to say. Zayn comes up to his side. “And thanks for not leaving when I kinda kicked you out.” He smiles a little.

He puts his hand on Niall's and Niall looks down at it. He feels fingers trailing down his cheek and Niall looks up at Zayn. He knows what's coming but doesn't believe it's actually going to happen. 

\- 

Harry moves into Niall's house and he has absolutely no say in it. Niall might need the extra help around but Harry walks into the bathroom multiple times when he's using the toilet just to see if he needs an extra hand. He even put a plastic container under Niall's bed in case he has to go in the middle of the night. Niall's afraid he's going to wake up one of these days with a tamper-proof tag on his arm with his full name and address.

So Zayn comes over and it's the only time Harry agrees to go outside. 

“You don't even know how happy I am to see you right now. Harry's insane.” He says as they move into the living room. Niall hops on one leg and leans on the wall on the way there.

~

Zayn hovers over him on the edge of the sofa. “I just want to look, at, you.” It's needier than anything else and Niall does want to curl into himself but he asked so nicely.

He takes off his shirt and Zayn helps him lower his sweats and underwear. Zayn moves back on the couch and stares. He gets his arms around his shins and rests his chin atop his knees, on his haunches he asks, “does it hurt?”

Niall shakes his head, “not right now? Just a little sore,” and looks back at the ceiling. It's completely silent; Niall taps his thumbs at the centre of his chest and feels the goose bumps rise.

He hears Zayn release a shaky breath and can feel his movements, feel the heat coming off him. “Can I?”

Niall nods and looks down because there's no way he would say no. Zayn raises the backs of his knees lifting the injured one with more care. Niall closes his eyes when he feels Zayn pressing into the supple skin of his thighs. He drags his hands down Niall's bum and covers the curve with both of them. Niall shivers when Zayn spreads his cheeks apart. 

He feels the cold now. “Open your eyes Ni,” it's not much more than a whisper but it vibrates right at his ear. Niall does so slowly and looks to where Zayn is seated.

He smoothes his thumb down his asshole and Niall tightens up as a response. Niall's hand moves down his abdomen, he gets his hand around his cock and squeezes releasing some of the pressure. He sighs and the tension leaves his shoulders and his stomach. 

Zayn pushes his hand out of the way and replaces it with his own. Niall lets his arms fall out of the way and it should feel strange, another boy's hand on his dick but here's Zayn doing it like he owns it. Twisting and wringing until Niall is wriggling in his spot.

He lets go of Niall's bum cheek but the second Niall sees what he does, his breaths come out shorter than they should be. Zayn sucks on two of his fingers looking him in the eye the entire time and Niall spreads his legs wider on impulse. He lowers his hand and looks at Niall, "you ready?"

He nods and bites his lip. Zayn's finger takes a tentative plunge, Niall closes in around it and whimpers when Zayn begins pumping his dick. 

Zayn's fingers wiggle and search for when the angle's just so Niall has to grind his teeth to hold it back. But Zayn's relentless in his rhythm and Niall comes hard all over his stomach in no time at all. He sags into the cushion with the aftershocks subsiding. 

Zayn pulls his fingers out slowly and Niall sighs and twitches. He leans down to wipes his hand off on Niall's shirt and dabs at Niall's belly with it. 

“You alright there?” he says with a reassuring squeeze on his foot. 

“Yeah,” he croaks out. Zayn huddles in around him on the couch and it's warmth he feels when he falls asleep. Because he might be trapped in a teenager's body but his heart is so much bigger because of it.


End file.
